Dr Paul Leighton has a way about him. His words are powerful, yet humble. I first met him when I was going through volunteer training at SafeHouse Center in Sept 2016 and he led a module on privilege. His commentary was like an air-conditioned room granting reprieve from a sweltering, humid summer day. I actually mentioned to him that if he started a podcast I would be an excited and grateful listener!

Paul Leighton is the co-author, with Jeffrey Reiman, of The Rich Get Richer and the Poor Get Prison, 11th Edition. He is also the co-author of a book on private prisons, Punishment for Sale: Private Prisons, Big Business and the Incarceration Binge. His co-authored book, Class, Race, Gender & Crime is available in its fourth edition. His current interests are in whistleblowing, wage theft and a next-generation, high-tech Japanese rehabilitation center. He recently finished his term as President of the Board of SafeHouse Center, a domestic violence shelter and sexual assault crisis intervention center.

Some book recommendations:

* Charles Terry's The Fellas: Overcoming Prison and Addiction*

* Punished: Policing the Lives of Black and Latino boys by Victor Rios

* Matt Tiabbi's The Divide: American Injustice in the Age of the Wealth Gap